All Posts by Jerry Hildenbrand

Man, I love these little Optimus One phones. When you put Android on great entry-level hardware and price it accordingly, a couple things happen. They get pretty damn popular, and developers start to take notice. Both are very good things. Optimus developer mmmark111 brings us new goodies -- ROMTools. ROMTools is a program you run from your computer and it handles a whole slew of hacking...

T-Mobile has announced that as of May 31, 2011, the Danger service (Andy Rubin's former baby now owned by Microsoft) will no longer be available for T-Mobile Sidekick users. Have no fear, because they have an easy transition path from the Sidekick to a new device -- one they will be sharing more information about in the coming weeks.Now if I were a betting man, I would bet that T-Mobile means...

Changes in the Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread source will allow applications to take screenshots without rooting your phone. We've always been able to take screenshots using the SDK and the ddms utility (which you can see above), and some third-party manufacturer skins have enabled it -- both accidentally and on purpose. But with Android 2.3.3 it appears that applications will be able to do it...

Motorola Mobility chairman Sanjay Jha announced at an investor relations conference this morning that starting this June, all future Motorola high-end smartphones will include Webtop. Webtop so far is unique to the Motorola Atrix 4G, but it looks that will be changing soon. Mr. Jha also made note that the only reason the Droid Bionic did not ship with Webtop was due to time constraints. ...

Gingerbread (the Android 2.3.2 version) has been leaked for the Samsung Galaxy S i9000. Users at XDA Developers are saying that it includes Touchwiz 4, and download mode is still available. It also looks like Samsung is now using the ext4 file system, which should bring performance boosts much like the ones on the Nexus S.Remember, this is a beta build -- at best. I wouldn't recommend anyone...

This week's ROM Review brings two Android staples together -- the HTC Droid Incredible and CyanogenMod. These two go together like peanut butter and jelly -- each makes a good thing better. And it's a great way to get some Gingerbread on your DInc.Android Central forums' super moderator and self-proclaimed VP of Entertainment Brett took the time to give us the run-down this time around, and you...

Yes, everyone is waiting for the HTC Thunderbolt. It has to be one of the most anticipated releases in recent Android history, and a lot of potential buyers are getting a bit...antsy. Android Central forums member AisforAustin got a chance to relieve a little of that pre-release stress today at his local Verizon Wireless store, where he had some hands-on time with a Thunderbolt dummy unit. I'...

A new twist on the "find my phone" genera of apps comes out today from Lookout Labs called Plan B. If the name didn't give it away, it's an application that tracks your phone that is installed remotely via the Android Market website after you've lost it. Using it is simple:Realize that your phone isn't where it should be, and a quick look under the car seats or in the couch cushions doesn't...

Yes, you read that right -- The Samsung Vibrant now has its very own CyanogenMod 7 (official) test release. It's clearly labeled as a TEST RELEASE, so don't expect miracles just yet, but finding and fighting bugs is half the fun of fooling with custom ROMs for many of us anyway. You can find all the details and download information at the source link.Let's be serious here for a minute. You're...

We all breathed a collective sigh of relief when we learned that Motorola provided the Xoom with an unlockable bootloader, giving developers and hackers easy access to the hardware. And since many of you guys aren't familiar with the concept and the way it works, allow me to direct you to Android Central member thefredelement and his Xoom unlocking guide. He has everything laid out nicely for...

We've had a couple reports of the latest Gmail update no longer appearing in the Market, and now we have a reason why. It seems that users who were still using a 2.2 version of Gmail and updated to the latest version had some stability issues. Users who updated from a 2.3.x version are unaffected.If you are experiencing bugs or crashes since updating, Google recommends you remove the update by...

The Android 2.3.3 (GRI40 for those keeping score at home) OTA update for the Samsung Nexus S has started to roll out, but there's no need to wait -- it's a breeze to manually install. Think of it as the OTA update, with less of the A. What you need to do:Grab the OTA package here [ link via XDA]Rename it to update.zip. This isn't needed for the Nexus S bootloader, but it makes things easy.Copy...

An AT&T-3G version of the Samsung Nexus S has been rumored for a while now, but while poking around at Google's Android Open Source Project git repository I noticed one of the changes made for 2.3.3 centered around the requirement for a new radio -- and it differentiates between T-Mobile and AT&T. I'm no Googler, but that sure looks like we're seeing Gingerbread being built for the Nexus...

LG Electronics has issued a press release announcing that pre-sales for the Optimus Pad (check out our hands-on) will begin on March 15 for NTT DOCOMO customers in Japan. The tablet has been customized for the Japanese market, with applications like BeeTV for mobile video entertainment and the 2Dfacto app for viewing eBooks and comics. Japanese consumers have long been known as early adopters...

The U.S. gets it first taste of the new HTC Senseand AT&T's 4G networkThe HTC Inspire 4G is AT&T's first foray into 4G data, and the carrier picked a very nice package for the debut. The Inspire is beautifully constructed with high-grade materials, and it shows the world that the Captivate wasn't just a fluke -- AT&T is seeing the light and getting on board with Android in a big way....

This is a reminder that the Samsung Galaxy S 4G will be available starting Feb. 23 -- as in tomorrow -- and we have a clarification on pricing. Previous reports of the phone costing $149.99 on a two-year agreement were inaccurate, and the phone will cost $199.99 on contract with a $50 mail in rebate.We had a little hands-on time with this one in Spain, and at first look it's everything a T-...

Google has released the full Honeycomb 3.0 SDK updates, meaning developers can download and begin work with the finalized APIs for Honeycomb. This comes in preparation for the launch of the Motorola Xoom on Feb. 24 and will let developers check what they've built using the 3.0 SDK preview against the final version before the Honeycomb tablets start to roll out. If you're an app developer, or...

If you're rocking an LG Optimus S on Sprint, you MUST check out the LG Optimus S Control Center from Android Central Forums member drewwalton19216801. Behind the long name is an easy-to-use Windows application that does a little bit of everything you need to hack your Optimus S, without fiddling with the prompt or trying to remember cryptic commands. Using what the developer has dubbed "Android...

I'm still waiting for my Android powered toaster, but in the meantime I'll have to make do with the Vertex Cereba -- an aquarium controller that runs Froyo on its 3.5-inch touchscreen. I'm sure some (OK, maybe all) of you are asking "what in the heck is an aquarium controller?" It's a computer that takes readings (usually through probes inserted into the filter area) for things like dissolved...

So you weren't patient enough to wait for a rooted version of EB13 Froyo for your Sprint Epic 4G and flashed the official version from Sprint. I can't blame you; I would have done the same darn thing, and so did Android Central Epic 4G forums moderator ragnarokx. Luckily, he took the time to verify the root method and write it up for everyone to use. So if you just couldn't wait, and are...